


Snapshots

by tmtcltb



Category: The Last Ship (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-03-08 20:45:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13466211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmtcltb/pseuds/tmtcltb
Summary: A series of one-shots focused on Kara Foster and Danny Green. These will not be in chronological order.





	1. Chapter 1

_May 2014 - Two weeks before the Nathan James departs from Norfolk_

"So how was the wedding?" Kara asked, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she stirred the pot of noodles. Debbie was supposed to be arriving any minute for dinner but, knowing her mother, Kara figured that she had at least thirty minutes. Rather than getting frustrated by Debbie's inability to do anything in a timely fashion, Kara had decided to use the time to fill Carlton in on yesterday's surprise meeting of the Nathan James' senior officers - a meeting he had missed because he was in Chicago to attend a wedding.

"Pretty much what you would expect," Carlton replied, and Kara could hear paper rustling on the other end of the line. She knew that Carlton wasn't overly enthusiastic about attending this wedding and agreed to attend mainly because it gave him an excuse to see his family. Originally Kara was scheduled to go with him to Chicago for the same reason - she always enjoyed her time with Carlton's extremely close, loving, and boisterous family - but Kara had been forced to cancel her trip earlier this week when her time off was revoked. "Bride looked great. Groom looked terrified but calmed down after a few drinks. Good dancing."

Kara laughed as she tasted the pesto and added a touch more basil. "Not every groom is terrified."

"Really? Name one who went to the alter completely sober," Carlton challenged.

Kara didn't miss a beat. "Master Chief Jeter."

Carlton groaned. "Well he doesn't count. Or the Captain or XO. Nothing rattles them. A meteor could land at Slattery's feet and he would pick up the smoldering ash to light his cigar."

Kara burst out laughing at the image that immediately popped into her mind of Slattery lighting a cigar from a meteor. "So, any prospects at the wedding?"

"Don't you worry about me, baby girl," Carlton replied, his tone blatantly flirtatious. "You're the one who hasn't gotten laid in like a year."

Kara sighed, once again regretting having admitted that to Carlton during a recent night out after she tossed down one beer too many. It wasn't as though she didn't  _want_  a little action in that department. But after the nasty breakup with Jeremy last year she wasn't interested in dating again and there were so many risks to hooking up - and not just the obvious ones like going home with a serial killer or picking up a STD. In a military town like Norfolk, the biggest risk was hooking up with a guy and then running into him on base or, even worse, having to work with him in the future.

Although Carlton claimed to understand her position, Kara suspected that he secretly thought she was a bit of a prude.

Not that Carlton was having much better luck in the romance department. Kara had spent the last six months trying to set Carlton up with her single friends but, while each of the girls had agreed that Carlton was a great catch, none of them actually wanted to catch him. When Kara had expressed her bafflement to her best friend Jennifer, the other woman had just laughed.

_If you think Carlton is such an amazing guy, why don't you go after him?_

"I still have a couple weeks, I guess. Slattery called in the senior staff yesterday – you were excused, of course – and wouldn't even tell us where we are going. Just said to pack winter gear."

Of course, neither Kara nor Carlton would take Commander Slattery at his word. He could very well have told them to bring winter gear even if they were heading to the Middle East or Africa. Kara made a mental note to throw a bathing suit into her bag, just in case. She couldn't let Carlton out boyscout her.

"Oh, and we're getting a SEAL team. Mountain warfare unit," she added. She had seen the dossier on the team and the part that wasn't blacked out was impressive, with time in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Sudan. Plus, one of the guys was pretty cute, something that had reminded Kara of just how long she'd been celibate even before Carlton mentioned it.

"SEALs, huh?"

Kara could hear the sudden interest in Carlton's voice. She rolled her eyes. Carlton might be the consummate professional, but he wasn't above a little bit of interservice rivalry, especially if special ops were involved. "XO wants you to play nice."

The conversation was cut off by a voice in the background, one that Kara recognized as Carlton's cousin Danielle. "You on the phone, Carl?"

Carlton's voice grew faint, presumably as he turned towards Danielle. "Just Kara."

Following the sound of a scuffle, Danielle's voice came over the line. "Hey sweetie. I thought you were in coming to visit us this weekend. I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I'm so disappointed that I missed the weekend," Kara replied, snapping off the burner and moving to drain the pasta. "Congratulations on getting your master's degree. Any school would be lucky to have you as a teacher."

"Thanks. I've applied to about a thousand different places so keep your fingers crossed," Danielle replied, then her voice changed. "Oh, Carl, I forgot to tell you that Aunt Marion wants you to come downstairs. Someone's here to see you."

"Is Marion trying to set him up again?" Kara asked playfully as she placed the covered dishes in the oven to keep them warm and began cleaning the kitchen.

Danielle was laughing so hard that it took her a minute before she could respond. "Oh, sweetie, the only person that Aunt Marion is trying to match Carl up with is you. She's convinced that the two of you have a thing that you aren't admitting because of the Navy's rules. I'm pretty sure she has your wedding planned already."

"I'm sure that Carlton is thrilled," Kara replied, smiling as she imagined Carlton's horror at being accused of violating the frat rules by his own mother.

"So what is going on with his love life?" Danielle demanded. "Last I heard he was dating that friend of yours. Meaghan or something?"

Kara groaned. "Let me get you up to speed."

Twenty minutes later, Kara was fully caught up with Danielle and still waiting for Debbie when Carlton's name popped up on her phone. "That was a quick visit."

"One of my old high school teachers stopped by to say hello," Carlton explained.

"Is she cute?" Kara asked lightly.

"He, and no." Carlton's voice was suspicious. "Did Danielle tell you that Mama's in matchmaking mode?"

"She  _might_  have said  _something_..." Kara let her voice trail off.

"Very funny," Carlton's voice was wry. "She's gone completely nuts. She told me that we should make a deal to get married if we're both thirty-five and single. And I think she was serious."

"Oh, yeah?" Kara laughed as she imagined the hilarious awkwardness of kissing (or having sex with) a man she regarded like a brother, surprised when the picture of the SEAL team leader flashed through her mind. Brushing it aside, she popped a stray olive into her mouth. "I am totally in. Given my track record with men I could do a hell of a lot worse."

 


	2. Anguish

_Anguish_

Fall 2015 – Four Months After Season 3

x

_He was dead because of her._

He wasn't the first person to die on her watch. As TAO that was her job, after all – to watch the teams go out and support them from the ship. But this time it was different. Because he wasn't a soldier or a sailor or even a gun-for-hire. He was a civilian. A man who could barely shoot a gun.

His only weapons his mouth and a pen.

She had fought Tex tooth and nail when he dragged her to the vehicle, knowing that leaving him behind was a death sentence, but some part of her still hoped, still believed that Allison had some tiny bit of humanity left.

But it wasn't to be.

Instead, his grave was an unmarked hole somewhere on these grounds, his body unlikely to ever be found. They hadn't waited a day, not even to try to extract more information out of him, executing him within hours of President Oliver's rescue.

While Kara was trying to convince Tex to turn around, to go back, to plan a rescue, it was already too late.

"You thinking about Shaw?"

Danny approached until he stood next to her on the small patio where President Michener would sometimes hold their morning briefings. Jeffrey, Alex, Allison, Kara, sometimes William Beatty and Howard Oliver. Kara used to enjoy those mornings - the change of scenery, the more relaxed environment – back when she still thought that they were all on the same side.

Back before the killing started.

"Barnes," Kara replied, her tone sharp.

"Tex told me what happened, Kara. There was nothing you could do." His voice was calm, collected. The voice of someone who understood what it felt like to send another person to their death.

"I know." And she did. Once Jacob was caught, there was nothing she could do to save him. She could only have died with him.

_And as Tex said, what was the point in that?_

"What was he like? Barnes?"

Kara gave a snort. "He was an asshole. You couldn't trust a thing he said. It was all designed to manipulate you into revealing information or advancing his own agenda. Plus he was a conspiracy theorist. He was almost as bad as Val. I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. But..."

The cool night air swept over them, causing Kara to shiver, and a moment later Danny's jacket settle on her shoulders. She pulled it tightly around her, feeling the heat from his body, wishing that it was enough to warm her, knowing that the real chill came from inside.

"But he didn't deserve to die like that. He had a family, before the Red Flu struck. His wife was pregnant when she died. Maybe he was a different person then. Maybe he could have become that person again."

"Maybe," Danny confirmed. "Or maybe he was just an asshole."

Stunned by Danny's bluntness, Kara laughed until she cried. Big, ugly sobs for a man she tolerated, at best, but to whom she owed a debt she could never repay. Then more tears, not for Jacob, but for all those she had lost.

_Tears for Frankie, who died back when death still felt like a shock._

_Tears for Barker, who came so close to finding out that his wife and children were alive and well in a Norfolk safe zone._

_Tears for Ravit, who captured Carlton's heart and all of their admiration with her spunk and laughter._

_Tears for Chung, who continued to have hope for the future long after Kara's was gone._

_Tears for Rachel, who died alone in a hallway on a night of celebration._

_Tears for Mason, who, despite his doubts, never let Kara down._

_Tears for Val, who finally found a place where she belonged, only to die in an explosion meant for someone else, collateral damage._

_Tears for Cruz, who would, and did, give his life for the team._

_Tears for Tex, who saved Kara from the same fate as Jacob. Who was the reason she was standing here, Danny's arms wrapped around her, holding her while she cried. Who was the reason she would go home to her son tonight. Who was the reason she had a future at all._

When the storm finally passed, Kara leaned against Danny's chest, taking comfort in the fact that he was here – he was alive. That, unlike Jacob or Frankie or Cruz or Ravit or Rachel or Mason or Barker or Val or Chung or Tex, Danny wasn't in a shallow hole or a watery grave or buried on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean. That he was here, with her.

_At least for tonight._

It was something that she would never take for granted again.

Kara straightened. "Let's go home."

 


	3. Brotherhood

_Brotherhood_

_A/N – this scene is set between Minefield and Dog Day in season 3. As always, I'm using the name Teylor Cruz._

_x_

Danny sat, elbows pressing into his knees, running his thumb across the thin strips of metal he held in his palm, feeling the familiar bumps and dents. One of these days he wouldn't be the one who pulled the chain over his head. Instead it would be Chandler or Slattery or Garnett who removed the tags, probably running their thumbs across the identification the same way that Danny was doing right now, squeezing them for a minute before placing them in an envelope to ship home to Kara and Frankie along with a letter detailing his  _courageous service_.

But today wasn't that day, thankfully, due, at least in part, to the man lying on the bunk before Danny, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. It hadn't been hard to get the truth out of Wolf. Danny simply waited until Doc Rios cleared and released the Aussie and then cornered the man. His question was simple.

" _Did you and Teylor ask Captain Chandler to pull me off the rhib?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Why?"_

_A faint smile crossed Wolf's face. "I didn't want to be the one to tell your son he would never meet his pa."_

No hesitation, no uneasiness or doubt – Wolf had been one hundred percent certain that he and Teylor were doing the right thing. Danny wondered how that was possible, how the man managed to avoid the second-guessing and over-thinking that plagued Danny, leading to his presence here, in sick bay, in the middle of the night.

_If Danny had been on that rhib with Teylor and Wolf would things have been different? Would they have been able to move faster, take out more mines, escape the field faster? Was Cruz here because Danny hadn't been there? Or was it the opposite, and his extra weight, his presence, would have slowed them down, resulting in all of them being killed?_

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Danny found his mind wandering back a year, to Cuba, to a moment on a beach when Danny was certain that he would be packing away Teylor's dog tags the same way he had done for Frankie only days prior. Funny how much had changed in a year – and how much hadn't.

_Finding the cure didn't seem to have stopped all of the fighting._

Some days, like today, it was all he could do not to throw in the towel, to pack up his team and head home, leaving the rest of the world to their petty squabbles and infighting. But he knew he wouldn't, not tonight or tomorrow or any other day. Because for every Peng or Takehaya, there was also a Bertrise, a Debbie, a Maria,  _parents taking their little girl home so they could die together_. So he would stay until every one of them had access to the cure. It was what he expected of himself and, even more importantly, it was what Kara expected of him. A faint smile crossed Danny's face as he imagined Kara standing in front of him, hands on hips as she told him to buck up and get his head back in the game. And he would.

_In the morning_.

A rustling sound from the bunk roused Danny from his morose thoughts. Teylor's eyelids fluttered open and brown eyes met blue across the small space. Teylor half-pushed to a sitting position before thinking better of it – that concussion had to have left a hell of a headache.

"Another pillow?" Danny inquired.

"Thanks." Teylor stuffed the cushion Danny lifted from the crew lounge behind his back. "We really should stop meeting like this, sir."

But Danny didn't take the bait. "Thank you. For what you did."

Teylor's lip twisted. "Wolf told you?"

Danny actually snorted. "It wasn't hard to guess. Why'd you do it?"

Teylor shifted. "All those orphans in St. Louis, they got to me. I kept thinking about how close Manny and Christopher came to joining them. I didn't want that to happen to Frankie. He's kind of like all of our kid, you know? We just want the best for him. Which is why I sure hope he takes after his mom in the looks department."

"You're an ass," Danny resisted the urge to throw something at the other man. Rios would have  _his_  ass if he caught Danny harassing his patient.

"So what's a man got to do around here for some entertainment?" Teylor asked.

Danny rose, knowing that Carlton and Wolf would still be up, probably Alisha too. "I might be able to rummage up a pack of cards and some players if you're up for it."

"Sounds good." Teylor waited until the door was open before he spoke again. "Oh, and Green, make sure to get your wallet. You still owe me twenty bucks from last time."

 


	4. Inventory

_Inventory_

_x_

"Seven-five." Danny said, setting the last M16A4 assault rifle back in place.

Kara made a check next to her official list. "All accounted for."

"Ka-bars, next?" Danny murmured, arms coming up to grasp the table on either side of her, so close that she could feel the heat radiating off of him. It was a curious thing, really, how Danny could stay so warm while spending days in temperatures that rarely rose above freezing.  _I run naturally hot_ , he explained when she asked, ignoring Alisha's mocking snort,  _sucks in the dessert but actually works out pretty well up here._

"We should…" But whatever she was able to say was lost as he pressed a butterfly light kiss against the spot just below her right ear. She melted against him, his body all hard planes and rippling muscles against her curves. "Cameras."

"Uh-huh." One hand moved from the table to her waist, his lips moving against her neck. "Except you're conveniently standing in a blind spot."

Kara's lips curved.  _Of course he noticed_. Not that she planned this, not exactly. It was just that three hours was a long time to be alone together without doing  _anything_ , especially when they had been at sea for four months and she had been fighting the urge to say to hell with the frat rules for roughly three-months-and-twenty-nine days of that time – or, basically, since the first time she bumped into Danny in the pathway, looking even better in his BDUs than he did in the jeans and washed out t-shirt he was wearing when Cruz introduced them – and if there were any rules broken, Kara definitely didn't want it caught on camera. She had worked too hard to get where she was to have her career ruined over an indiscretion.

"There should be some reward for doing inventory," she tried to quip, but the words came out more as a groan when Danny's hand slid higher, brushing against the underside of her breast. She wiggled against him, grinning when he stiffened, his body reacting in an entirely predictable manner.  _Two could play that game._

But it only took him a minute to regain his control, spinning her around to face him, arms on either side of her, pinning her against the table, a challenging glint in his eyes. "As I recall, the XO put you in charge of the inventory check schedule. So, really, it's your fault that we're here at all."

It was true. She  _had_  been in charge of figuring out who would get the absolutely mind-numbing task of counting all of the equipment in the armory to make certain that nothing went missing. Not only was it one of the least-desirable assignments on the ship, but it was one that was commonly delegated to either the lowest officers on board or those who were on the assigning officer's shit-list. But as much as Kara would have loved to force Wright to deal with the monotony of counting each round of ammunition, it wasn't her style. Besides, the chance to spend hours of time with Danny without raising any questions was far more enticing.

"Are you complaining?" She demanded, hands slipping around his waist to pull him closer. His eyes darkened as their lower bodies slid against each other.

Danny dropped his head slowly, not stopping until their lips were mere millimeters apart, so close that she could feel him smiling as he answered. "Not at all."

Then he closed the gap, and every logical thought disappeared in the overwhelming sensation of his lips pressing against hers, his arms moving from the table to encircle her while he rocked against her, unapologetically demanding a reaction from her, and Kara knew that they were both feeling the same desperate longing.  _Only two more weeks_ , Kara tried to remind herself, but it did nothing to quash her raging desire, suppressed for so long that a mere touch was enough to turn it into a burning inferno.

_Crash_.

There was barely time to separate – certainly not time to collect her thoughts – before Doctor Scott was in Danny's face, waving a sheet of paper. "Lieutenant Green, I demand to know why I am being kept off the ice!"

_The Ice Queen_. That's what Berchem and Smith called the woman until Danny threatened to write them both up for insubordination. While Kara appreciated his position – allowing his men to mock the person they were supposed to be protecting reflected badly on the team and Danny's leadership – there was no denying that Doctor Scott was lacking a few social skills, not bothering to so much as greet the crew when she ran into them (which was admittedly not often, as the only time Doctors Scott and Tophet left their laboratory was when they were heading to the ice, electing to have their meals delivered). The woman was all business all of the time – almost as though the weight of the world were on her shoulders.

"Commander Slattery's orders, ma'am," Danny replied, his voice almost a growl, and Kara's face flamed when she noticed, with no little embarrassment, that he was trying to discretely shield his lower body. Thankfully Doctor Scott didn't seem interested in any part of either Danny or Kara's anatomy. Of course, as far as Kara could tell, Doctor Scott wasn't even aware of her presence. She certainly hadn't acknowledged her in any way. "Nobody off the ship until this weather pattern passes."

Doctor Scott thumped the papers she was holding onto the table, causing the ammo to rattle. "This is completely unacceptable! I'm going to talk to the Captain immediately."

Both Danny and Kara stared at the woman as she swept out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her with another crash.

"Do you think she'll say anything?" Kara asked uncertainly.

Danny paused, no doubt replaying the scene in his head. "Doubtful. The woman still gets me and Frankie mixed up. If it doesn't relate to her birds, she doesn't notice or care."

The idea of anyone confusing Frankie and Danny drew a smile, although it quickly faded. Doctor Scott might be lacking in the social graces, but her eyes were far too focused for Kara to dismiss her as an absent-minded professor.

"What if she does?" When Kara glanced at Danny, she noticed that his gaze was fixed on her lips and realized that she was nibbling on them, a nervous habit that Danny apparently found irresistible. Or, at least, so he claimed one day when he tracked her down after a tense meeting with more than conversation in mind.

In an instant, Kara was back against the table, Danny's arms wrapped around her. "If we're going to get written up anyway, might as well make it worth it."


	5. Boys and Their Toys

_St. Louis, Five Years after Season 3_

_x_

"Kara! Where are you?"

Danny's voice was unexpected. He had left an hour ago with a list of errands to run that would necessarily require at least four stops, and she hadn't expected to see him again until dinner. Slightly concerned by his early return, Kara left the half-made guacamole sitting on the counter – she thought she might actually die of joy when Sasha located avocados at the market two days ago – and popped her head out of the kitchen, only to discover her husband striding towards her with a broad smile on his face.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, wiping her hands on her apron. "You're home early."

Danny blinked, as though confused by the question, before leaning over to give her a kiss, backed up by a charming grin. "I'll finish the shopping later. Look what I found!"

Observing the small white package in his hands, presumably the source of the excitement, Kara had no clue what she was looking at. "What is it?"

"They're pop rockets, Kara." Danny stopped, staring at her expectantly. When there was no response, a faintly incredulous look passed over his face. "You've never heard of pop rockets?"

"Nope." Kara shook her head, smiling despite herself as she wondered, once again, how she had managed fall head-over-heels in love with a man who could act more like a three-year-old than their actual three-year-old. Although she usually made a point to patronize new stores, wanting to encourage the economic development of the new capital, she had decidedly mixed feelings about the novelty shop – named Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in a clear nod towards the owners' favorite book – that opened three months ago. It wasn't the store itself that was the problem so much as Danny's choice of purchases. At least this package didn't look like it contained fireworks. Tex might have been more amused than annoyed by the fire that Danny and Carlton accidentally started on his roof, but the other neighbors were unlikely to be so understanding. "So what are pop rockets?"

"They're...," Danny paused before admitting. "Well, they're hard to explain. But they're awesome! My dad used to buy them for us when we were kids."

The apparently casual statement was telling, as was the shadow that crossed his face. As lucky as Danny was to have part of his family survive, the loss of his father ran deep. Kara reached over to grasp his hand. "Can you give me a hint? What do they do?"

"Let me get the boys and I'll show you." Grinning again, Danny glanced around. "Where are they anyway?"

"Upstairs," Kara replied. Last time she checked, the two were jumping on Frankie's bed, claiming to be monkeys, but now it was suspiciously quiet.

"Frankie! Mark! Come see what I have!"

Moving to the kitchen, Danny quickly unwrapped the package. Eyeing the twelve small plastic canisters with strings dangling from the end dubiously, Kara picked one up, immediately noticing the warning to point away from people. "Do you think this is safe for a three-year-old?"

It wasn't that she didn't trust Danny with their sons. Not exactly. It was just that his judgment was sometimes a little….off when he was excited about something. Like the time he confidently assured her that two-year-old Mark was old enough to hold his own sparkler, a decision that Doc Rios took a dim view on when he was treating the resulting burns.

But Danny wasn't deterred. "These are totally safe. I promise."

A stampede across the ceiling told her that Frankie and Mark were on their way downstairs.

"Daddy!" Mark threw himself at his father, demanding to be picked up. "Present for me?"

"What is it, Dad?" Frankie asked, poking at the plastic silos with his finger, as baffled as Kara. Next to him Halsey began whining, likely bothered by the faint scent of gunpowder coming off the package.

Sitting down and jiggling Mark onto one knee, Danny gave Frankie a stern look. "Okay guys, this is going to be really fun. But you have to listen very carefully and do exactly what daddy tells you or we'll have to put the rockets away. Okay?"

Two solemn nods followed. Picking up one of the small plastic containers, Danny helped Frankie hold it, aiming outwards, and together they pulled the string, resulting in a rather loud bang and the stench of smoke, as a packet of confetti cannon-balled into the previously clean kitchen. For a moment there was dead silence, before Halsey began barking, his eyes training suspiciously on the colored strips of paper. Kara moved towards Mark, expecting hysterics over the unexpected noise, but instead the toddler began laughing, wiggling off Danny's lap to grab at the confetti.

"Halsey,  _asseids_!" With a move of Danny's hand, the barking ceased, Halsey moving towards the dog bed in the corner of the room, although he continued to stare at the pop rockets suspiciously.

Frankie stared at the small empty rocket he was now holding. "That was so cool! Like a parachute out of a spaceship!"

"Mark, do you want to try?" Danny asked, grabbing another rocket from the table.

"Me, me, me!" Was the enthusiastic reply.

Almost as excited about his brother's turn as his own, Frankie reached over to help Mark position the rocket. "Like this, Mark! Now pull the string! Go!"

Fifteen minutes later all twelve rockets had been popped and both boys were on the floor, scooping the confetti into their toy garbage truck with a bulldozer, having just as much fun with the small scraps of paper as they had actually popping the rockets. Sticking the half-made guacamole in the refrigerator to finish later, Kara poured herself and Danny a cup of coffee, joining him at the table. Snapping her fingers, she called Halsey to her side, sinking her hand into the dog's thick fur. "So you used to buy these with your father?"

Danny nodded, a wistful look crossing his face. "On Saturdays we would go to the grocery store, Dad, Caroline and me, and he would let us pick out a toy from the dollar rack. We would go home and set them all off right away. Caro and I loved these things."

"It sounds like a good memory."

"It is."

Kara let the silence stretch for a few moments before inquiring, in a far more stern tone, "Did you purchase any other novelties that I should be aware of?"

"Nope." Danny smiled at her charmingly over the top of his coffee cup, suddenly looking far younger than his thirty-four years. "Although next week they might get some drones. I asked Tom to reserve one for us. Thought the boys would love it."

Kara bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. "I'm sure that they will."

_Almost as much as their daddy._


	6. Hobson's Choice

_Hobson's Choice_

_x_

Stepping into sick bay, Kara's eyes zeroed in on her husband. Danny was sitting sideways in a chair, elbows on knees, as Timothy Rios dug the bullet out of his left lower back. Danny's hands were clenched, but Kara assumed it was from the uncomfortable feeling of having something digging around inside of him, rather than actual pain. Despite Danny's general dislike of pain-killers, Rios would have insisted on given Danny at least a local anesthetic before cutting into him.

"Got it." Timothy raised the small, dull object above Danny's head, allowing Kara to see. "Just a fragment. Looks like the bullet shattered and the vest got most of it. Didn't hit anything major, Commander."

Danny's eyes shot up, apparently unaware of Kara's arrival until Rios spoke, confirming Kara's earlier suspicion that Timothy gave him some sort of pain medication. Danny was usually far more observant. Their eyes caught, and held. This wasn't the first time she had seen him since his dive off the cliff, of course. She was in the helo bay when the RHIB bearing Danny, Wolf and Sasha returned and had seen his again in the wardroom when Slattery gave them their marching orders for the next day, but this was the first time that she could do more than ensure he was alive and walking.

Kara took a moment to run her gaze over all of him. With the exception of the bloody patch on his back, nothing appeared amiss. The hole in Danny's back seemed to be little more than a flesh wound, and none of the TAC team seemed to suffer any real damage from their blind jump off the cliff-face into unknown waters. She nodded at Timothy, lips pressed firmly together, not wanting to risk have her trembling voice give away just how shaken she was.  _Things could have been so much worse._

"Thanks Doc," Danny said gruffly, his eyes still fixed on Kara.

"I've got some other patients to attend to, if you don't mind finishing the bandaging, Commander Green," Rios replied, already pulling off his gloves in anticipation of her agreement.

Despite her roiling emotions, Kara found herself smiling at Timothy's formality. They had worked together on the Nathan James for years, with Kara serving as his extra set of hands on more than one occasion. "Of course, Doc. Happy to help."

Timothy shut the door behind him as he left, giving them a modicum of privacy. Confirming that Timothy had already gathered the necessary supplies, Kara moved forward, taking the opportunity to run her hand from Danny's shoulder down his back as she moved around him. Relishing the feel of taunt, warm skin and muscles that bunched under her touch, reassuring her that he really was okay.

"Were there any fatalities?" Danny asked as Kara snapped on her gloves and began to clean the blood that had trickled from the wound.

"No. With power down we had to aim manually. Nishioka took out the first missile. Second hit the deck but not a direct angle. Carl must have nicked it. Eight people are injured, two critically, but both are stable."

Kara began wrapping the gauze around his midsection. The small talk, dancing around the real issue, both irritated and soothed her nerves. It felt so ordinary, this end of the day chit-chat. What happened during his day, what happened during hers. But in an almost absurd manner given that her day consisted of sending a missile directly at him, and his day consisted of jumping off a cliff face without any idea what might be below.

"We got lucky," Danny replied solemnly.

Kara tended to agree, the location of the missile strike could have been far worse and caused far more damage. Still, as TAO, she could let the possible slight to Carl go - not from a member of the TAC team, even if he was her husband. "Combined with excellent training and preparation for similar situations."

Her pert tone drew a chuckle, one that quickly turned to a hiss. Danny must have bruised a rib or two, either from the shot or the fall. "Smart thinking by you and Alisha to daisy-chain those batteries."

"I hate being blind," Kara replied quietly, momentarily reliving the terror of that moment. Of realizing that they had no power or weapons, and no means of helping Danny or his team. It was a feeling that she had experienced too often over the past two years. A feeling that she hoped to never experience again.

Taping off the bandage, Kara rounded the chair to help Danny into a clean shirt, but he clearly had a different idea, taking the opportunity to pull her onto his lap. She pushed away from his chest halfheartedly, dropping the shirt into his lap. "We promised Slattery..."

Danny stopped the words with his thumb. "We're not breaking any rules. Just bending them a little."

It was so reminiscent of the cocky, young Danny Green that she met in the Arctic that Kara smiled despite herself. Hands raising to his cheeks she met his eyes. "Don't  _ever_ do that to me again. Do you know what it did to me when I confirmed that fire order? And then when we couldn't raise you right away? I thought you were dead."

Danny's gaze didn't waiver. "If there's a choice between saving you and saving myself, I'll make the same decision every time. But I have no intentions of leaving you and Frankie anytime soon."

Kara swallowed, tears stinging her eyes, ones that she wouldn't allow to fall. "I could have  _killed_ you. How am I supposed to explain that to Frankie? That Daddy was killed by friendly fire. By friendly fire that  _I_  ordered."

His thumb moved, catching a tear that had escaped and was rolling down her face. "This was never on you, Kara. You aren't the one who started this. You aren't the one who hid the seeds or who killed Mahmoud. This is on Omar or whoever sent those terrorists to Spain. It always was."

Objectively Kara knew that he was right, knew that she had no other option. She couldn't - wouldn't - allow another missile to hit the ship, to put the lives of her friends and colleagues at risk to save her husband. Still, the thought of having to someday explain to their son that she ordered the shot that killed his father, haunted Kara. "I love you.  _Please_ be careful out there."

"I am, sweetheart. I am." Danny bent, his lips brushing hers once gently, reassuringly, before growing more demanding. She could feel his fears - that he would die in that cave, never again see her or Frankie - in the pressure of his lips on hers,in the way one hand tangled in the hair at the base of her neck to draw her closer while the other one wrapped around her waist. Both of them drinking in the reassurance that the other person was still there. Still alive.

Several moments later, Kara leaned back, breaking the kiss somewhat reluctantly, but knowing that they were on borrowed time. Timothy had been kind enough to ignore regulations and give them a moment alone, she didn't want to abuse it. Stroking her thumb along Danny's now completely out of control beard, Kara bit down on her lip. "Iran next. I suppose that means that I'm stuck looking at this bush for a couple more days."

Danny grinned back, the same smile that she fell in love with back in the Arctic a moment or a lifetime ago. "Actually, I'm thinking about keeping it. It's like having a sweater for your face. I never get cold."

Arching an eyebrow at him, Kara pushed herself to her feet, slapping the forgotten shirt against his chest. "Warmer than sleeping next to your wife at night?"

Danny pulled his shirt over his head, only the slight hitch in his breathing revealing that the movement caused pain. "On second thought, my diving mask doesn't really fit well with the beard. That might be a deal-breaker."

"Would want to mess with your dive gear." Kara tilted her head, studying him, before reaching out to smooth several imaginary wrinkles out of his shirt. "See you at dinner, Lieutenant?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."


	7. The Opposite of Love

_A/N - not Danara but a drabble that that I couldn't get out of my head. This follows the one-shot in the last chapter, so if you haven't read that one, you may want to start there. Spoilers for Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 4. XOXO - tmtcltb_

_x_

_"The Opposite of Love Isn't Hate, It's Indifference" - Elie Wiesel_

_x_

Sasha stepped through the door to sick bay and was met by the unexpected sight of Doc Rios sitting at his desk riffling through a stack of paperwork. Frowning, she inquired, "Did Lieutenant Green come to see you? Captain wants him to join us in the wardroom once he's cleared."

Despite Green's protests that he was fine, the blood seeping from the bottom of his vest indicated otherwise and Captain Slattery had sent him off to get his wound examined. An order, it now appeared, that Green may have ignored.

"I can pass along the message," Rios replied. Catching the confusion on Sasha's face, Rios nodded his head towards one of the small cabins off the main medical area. "Commander Green is bandaging Lieutenant Green up now."

Eyeing the door behind Rios, Sasha couldn't help but speculate what was happening back there. She knew that Kara Green was well liked and respected by both the crew and military command but, despite being acquainted for more than a year, Sasha rarely interacted with the woman. Danny and Kara, understandably, tended to spend their free time with their son while, at least recently, Sasha devoted her time away from the Nathan James to working her connections regarding the seeds. Unlike Kara, Sasha knew Danny fairly well, having served with him for almost eighteen months. But even with that foundation, she could only guess at how he would deal with having his wife back on the Nathan James.

And whether Slattery made the right call in allowing it.

Message delivered, Sasha was turning to leave when the door to the small cabin opened, Kara entering the room first. To a casual observer, she would have appeared as composed as ever, but Sasha detected a slight redness around the commander's eyes. Danny's face was similarly unreadable, but his hand lingered on the small of his wife's back as he followed her through the doorway. Catching sight of Sasha, Danny's posture shifted, wincing slightly as he straightened. He nodded. "Ma'am."

Sasha didn't waste any time. "Captain wants to meet us in the wardroom at 0530. You too, Commander Green." Both glanced at their watches. "How are you feeling, Green?"

It was Kara who answered. "Surface wound but he's got a couple bruised ribs. Probably from hitting the water at a bad angle. How are you, Agent Cooper? Any aches and pains?"

"I'm fine," Sasha replied. She might be a little sore - that jump was nothing to sneer at and she, unlike Danny and Wolf, did not have extensive underwater training - but Sasha had no intention of admitting it. Her gaze returned to Danny. "Are you off-duty then?"

That would, of course, be extremely unwelcome news given their current predicament.

"I'm willing to clear you with the usual proviso," Rios replied when three sets of eyes swung in his direction.

"Don't worry, Doc, I'll take it easy. No more cliff diving." The serious look in Danny's eyes, which were on Kara rather than Rios, bellied his jovial tone.

"And come back if..."

"If anything changes," Danny interrupted. "Got it, Doc. Thanks."

The two minute walk to the wardroom passed quickly as Kara updated them on the status of the ship and the injured. Several times Danny's hand rose to touch her back or arm, the gesture apparently so ingrained that neither seemed to notice when it happened. Their ease with each other made Sasha vaguely uncomfortable, reminding her of a time when she felt that way. Safe without being suffocated. Loved without being possessed. Desired for who she was, flaws and all...

Sasha pushed the thought away. Not because of James - they had both started this relationship mourning the loss of another - but because there was no point in dwelling upon something that was simply not meant to be. Tom Chandler had left sixteen months ago, walking out of her life without a word. He had made his choice, moved on with his life, and she was damn well going to do the same.

Upon entering the wardroom, Sasha headed towards James, who was sitting at the table, two cups of steaming mint tea set before him.

"Mmmmm." Settling into the chair next to him, Sasha inhaled, enjoying every second of the precious commodity, ready to focus on something other than the Greens.

But, of course, the first thing that James did was nod his head in the couple's direction. "Do you think it was a mistake? Letting her join the crew?"

Looking to the other side of the wardroom, Sasha took a moment to consider the pair, who were now speaking with Lieutenants Burk and Granderson. The way their bodies oriented towards each other, the shared glances, the half smiles. Sasha would have known that they were a couple within moments of meeting them, without either having to say a single word. Despite having similar thoughts only minutes earlier, Sasha found herself irritated by James' comment. "Commander Green is an excellent TAO. Everything that she did today was above reproach."

Raising an eyebrow at her sharp tone, James took a sip of his own tea. "It wasn't her qualifications that I was questioning."

Sasha shrugged, playing with her cup for a moment, modulating her voice. "They just need to follow the rules. We've managed without issue."

And they had. For almost six months now Sasha and James had worked side-by-side, their personal relationship frequently taking a back-seat to the search for the seeds.

"Maybe." James didn't sound convinced. "But I've never been tempted to blow an operation to keep you out of the line of fire. Rules or no rules."

The words came as no surprise to Sasha. Her relationship with James was many things - enjoyable, affectionate, passionate - and she often looked forward to the day when they could be together without the threat of impending death hanging over them. But not once had Sasha worried about James choosing her over the mission, or felt the urge to protect him at the expense of her team.

Now, though, looking at the Greens, Sasha wondered whether that was a good thing after all.


	8. Open Mouth, Insert Foot

_A/N – warning, this chapter is rated M. I didn't want to switch the rating of the entire series so consider yourself warned. This snapshot is dedicated to Tea-Induced Scribbles, who posited the hypothetical and got me thinking…_

_x_

_Open Mouth, Insert Foot_

_x_

Kara leaned forward, hands anchored against the headboard on either side of Danny's head, lips dipping to nip at his ear. "You have no idea how much I missed you."

"I...what the hell was that?"

Dumbfounded, Kara found herself knocked flat on her ass while her husband scrambled out of bed. Her first instinct was to look to the door, assuming that someone had walked in on them, but the door remained closed, and there was no sound to indicate that someone was waiting outside. Besides, Danny hadn't reached for his gun, his entire attention still fixed on her. "What the hell is what?"

"That!" Danny's hand rose, pointing towards the bed, his face pale.

Frustrated with Danny's inability to articulate anything other than pronouns, Kara quickly checked her surroundings for spiders and snakes, relieved to find nothing else alive in the bed. "You'll have to be a little more specific."

"Your stomach. It … moved."

The baby picked that particular moment to roll over, a tiny hand pushing against the front of her belly, outlining all five fingers. Hurt over Danny's reaction her new shape immediately merged with annoyance at her husband for ruining what had been a very pleasant evening.

"That," she snapped, "is your son."

But rather then recognize what an idiot he was being, Danny yanked the sheet off the bed, wrapping it around his naked waist. "He's awake?"

Annoyed by his infantile behavior, she rolled her eyes. "Danny, he can't see you."

This time at least he had the decency to look embarrassed, apparently realizing how absurd he was being. "Do you think you can tell what we're doing?"

_Or maybe not._

"Danny, he's a seven-month-old fetus. He can barely open his eyes, and he's still figuring out how to suck his thumb. I don't think the concept of sex has occurred to him yet."

Not wanting to spend what little time they had between Danny's arrival back in St Louis and the Nathan James' departure arguing – in addition to being rather frustrated by the baby's terrible timing in making his presence known – Kara took a deep breath. Tamping down her irritation, she tilted her head to the side, arching an eyebrow and giving him what she hoped was a sexy smile. "Sex is perfectly safe during pregnancy. But if you're worried about getting kicked, we could try different position. Say with you behind me?"

Danny's eyes – and another part of his anatomy – immediately responded, giving a small boost to Kara's battered ego. Then Danny's eyes fell back to her stomach.

"Could we wait until he falls asleep?" He asked uncertainly.

Tears sprang to Kara's eyes and she thought about the preparations she had made for this evening: dinner reservations, shopping for new clothes (and underclothes, ones that served absolutely no practical purpose), convincing Miller to take Halsey for the evening, and getting off work an hour early so she could change out of her uniform into a dress. Hell, she even wore heels!

Only to be turned down not once, but twice.

"Never mind." Rolling to her side, Kara scooted awkwardly towards the edge of the bed, exasperated by how difficult her bulging belly made the simple act. Who would have known that twenty extra pounds would make getting up so damn difficult?

Danny reached out a hand to help her, one which Kara snacked away. His front teeth nibbled on his bottom lip uncertainly, a gesture which Kara typically found adorable. "Kara..."

But she was done listening. "I'm going to take a shower. I suggest you go find us something to eat since we missed our reservation."

Slamming the bathroom door behind her, Kara turned on the water as high as it would go, thankful once again that St. Louis had running water. It had been a long six weeks of sponge baths and the every other day five-minute shower at the naval facilities, before Andrea and O'Connor got everything up and running.

Stepping under the spray, Kara gave in to the tears that have been threatening to fall for several minutes before common sense reasserted itself. Danny had been gone for almost two months, leading one of the teams that were spreading the cure. He had missed almost a third of her pregnancy, and there was no denying that her body had changed during that time. As Andrea and her mother had both oh-so-subtly pointed out, Kara had finally "popped," her belly going from almost non-existent to big enough to house triplets (or so Kara felt). At the same time, the soft flutters that Kara had so enjoyed back on the Nathan James had changed to kicks and punches hard enough that she felt bruised from the inside out. Kara had actually been concerned enough to mention the baby's apparently erratic movement to the civilian OBGYN she found here in St. Louis, who laughingly assured her that it was perfectly normal and, in fact, a good sign that the baby was growing appropriately. It really wasn't fair to expect Danny to adjust in an hour to something that took her weeks.

Grabbing the soap, Kara begin describe her arms, deliberately avoiding her already itchy belly. Fair or not, he was still an asshole.

She wasn't sure how long she stood under the slowly cooling spray before there was a soft knock and the bathroom door swung open.

"Kara? I got food. Some of those fish tacos you like. With avocado."

His voice sounded genuinely apologetic, and since her craving for fish tacos was relatively new, she had to give him points for thoughtfulness. He must have gotten the idea from Alisha. "I'll be out in a second."

Before she could finish her sentence, Danny puled back the shower curtain to step into the small shower, reminding her of the days back on the Nathan James when he would sneak in to meet her. Danny's arms slept around her middle, just above her belly, tugging her back against him before resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry. I kind of freaked out there. Just wasn't expecting it. I asked Tex and..." He stopped, given their current position unable to miss the fact that she stiffened at the mention of Tex's name. "Not that I gave him specifics, of course. But the only guys I know with kids are Tex, the Captain, and the XO. And God knows I wasn't going to talk to Slattery."

Kara forced herself to relax. With his father gone, Tex was probably the closest thing that Danny had to a paternal figure. It made sense that he would turn to the older man for advice. And even though she hated the idea of anyone knowing so much about their personal business, for all that Tex never shut up, he also never revealed a confidence.

Curious, she asked, "So what did Tex have to say?"

"After he got done laughing, you mean?" The rueful note in Danny's voice had Kara giggling. "First he told me that I better get my ass back upstairs and apologize for being a numbnut before I got permanently benched. Then he told me it was a little bit late for a conversation about the birds and the bees and that any guy who manage to have sex on a destroyer could figure out a way to make this work too." His voice dropped, one hand dropping, fingers spreading across her stomach. "All of this is amazing, Kara, really it is. But it's a little scary too. I'm sorry I ruined our evening."

Kara turned around, lifting her arms to slide them around Danny's shoulders, the contrition in his face melting away any residual anger. "Let's just call it a bump and leave it at that."

"A bump?" Danny's eyebrows rose. "Pun intended?"

Kara shrugged, although she knew her smile would give her away. "Well then, Lieutenant, do share. I assume that you formed your battle plan before you came back. Did you come up with any brilliant ideas for the rest of our evening?"

Danny's eyes flashed as his mouth spread in a slow smile. "Turns out that I'm full of them."


	9. Amalgamate

_Amalgamate_

_x_

"He's stubborn," said the principal.

"He may have gotten that from me," Kara admitted, a slight flush crossing her face, much to Danny's amusement. People tended to think of Kara as the even-keeled one while he was the live wire. And that was true, for the most part. Kara was definitely the more reasonable. But when she got a bee in her bonnet over something, there was no changing her mind.

"We like to think of it as determination," Danny interjected. After all a little girl growing up with a single mom in Kansas didn't grow up to become a commander in the United States Navy without developing a pretty strong backbone. Frankie definitely inherited that from his mama.

"Destructive," the woman in front of them continued, ticking off a second finger.

This time Danny was the one to shift in his seat. "I come from a family of engineers. We like to know how things work."

Kara reached over to touch Danny's hand. "I wouldn't say that he's destructive so much as curious. He doesn't take things apart with the intention of ruining them. He just didn't realize how difficult it would be to put the typewriter back together."

"And the radio, the pump for the school's fish tank, the leaf blower…."

"We did pay for the leaf blower," Danny pointed out, not needing to hear an entire list of the things that Frankie had dissembled. Between school and home, the kid had blown through his college tuition already. "And Commander Garnett showed him how to put the radio back together."

Neither Danny nor Kara admitted that it was at least the third radio that Frankie had taken apart, his fascination with electronics starting at a particularly young age.

"Rebellious. And argumentative." The woman's third and fourth fingers were ticked.

At this one Kara threw Danny a look that was a little less amused. Frankie's refusal to follow rules that he found stupid was definitely one of the areas where their parenting styles clashed. Danny straightened. "We've spoken to Frankie about the school's rules and the importance of following them."

"Oh yes," Mrs. Adamson replied, her voice cool. "Frankie certainly knows the rules. He follows them to the letter. For example, the rule about not leaving class without the teacher's permission. Last week Mrs. Burk caught him climbing out a window. When asked what he was doing, Frankie explained that his hand was still in the classroom and since the rule didn't specify whether his entire body had to be inside the room or not, he was in compliance."

Danny bit down hard on his lip to prevent himself from laughing, suspecting that the woman before him would not appreciate his humor. This time there was no misunderstanding the look that Kara gave him, the one that conveyed irritation, exasperation, and a hint of told-you-so. After all, wasn't one of Danny's favorite sayings that  _you had to know the rules in order to figure out the best way to get around them_? His blasé attitude was bound to rub off on the kids at some point, something Kara regularly pointed out. Of course, what did she expect? Why wouldn't the child conceived in violation of every rule grow up to break them? Besides, while Kara wasn't much of a rule breaker before they met, he hadn't exactly twisted her arm up there in the Arctic. There was definitely a wild streak hidden under that serious mien.

"I'll speak to him about the importance of classroom safety, including not climbing out windows," Danny said in what he hoped was an appropriately solemn tone. Given the principal's glower, he suspected he had not succeeded.

"Mr. and Mrs. Green, I'm not sure that you're appreciating the severity of the situation. Your son hit another child."

"In defense of his friend," Kara pointed out immediately. "That boy said some very inappropriate things about Ms. Granderson and Ms. Raymond."

"I am aware. Which is the reason why Frankie hasn't been suspended," the principal acknowledged. "We all understand his motivations. But violence is never the answer. Frankie needs to think before he acts."

Danny wondered how the woman before them could say that with a straight face given he and Kara's respective profession. Violence was, in fact, often the answer in their jobs, although Danny could recognize that it might not translate well to an elementary school.

The silence lasted a moment too long before Kara spoke. "We know that Frankie can be impulsive."

"Spontaneous," Danny corrected, earning himself a look from both women.

Kara continued as though he hadn't spoken. "That's the reason that we signed Frankie up for martial arts training."

With Wolf, who had all but given Frankie a high-five upon hearing about how he handled the situation concerning Val and Alisha's seven-year-old daughter. Not exactly something to share with either Kara or Mrs. Adamson.

"Frankie is an incredibly smart little boy," the principal said with a sigh, not bothering to tick off another finger and Danny straightened, feeling that they were finally getting to the real reason for this meeting. "He knows better. He knew that the correct thing to do was to tell a teacher, but he chose to hit another student, and the fact of the matter is, he isn't sorry. He's convinced that he did the right thing and acting as though he were a martyr. In fact, during detention this afternoon he compared himself to Mandela."

Ah yes, that  _was_ the root of the problem. Because the principal was correct. Frankie had a strong sense of morality, one which didn't always line up with the school's - or his parents' - rules, and nothing that the principal or Danny or Kara or anyone else said was going to convince Frankie that what he did was wrong.

Still,  _Mandela_? Danny's body shook with silent laughter.

"We will be certain to talk to him about his behavior," Kara said finally, kicking Danny's leg. "Regarding Madela, we've been reading biographies of leaders at home. Perhaps some of the lessons haven't come through clearly."

Danny had forgotten that Kara was doing that, deciding that the kids were old enough to mix in some non-fiction with the typical kids' books that Danny recalled from his own childhood. Well, there wasn't much question where Frankie got his IQ from.

The principal's eyes narrowed. "How do you handle situations like this at home?"

The silence stretched as both Danny and Kara considered how to answer. Because the truth was, they didn't have any more idea of how to handle Frankie than the school. The principal wasn't wrong about a single thing that she said. Frankie was stubborn. He was rebellious. He was argumentative. And he loved taking things apart and wasn't so good at putting them back together. But he was also happy, kind, thoughtful, and the first to offer to help his friends or younger siblings when they needed something.

When Kara remain silent, Danny racked his brain for something to say. "You know how some kids are funny looking when they're little, because they need to grow into their looks? Frankie is kind of like that. He's got this big personality. He just needs a little more time to grow into it."

The principal sat back, eyebrows lifting, before nodded at him in a serious manner. "That is a very perceptive comment, Mr. Green."

After a quick round of goodbyes, Danny and Kara retreated to their SUV. Once they were safely inside, Kara gave him a sideways glance, her teeth nibbling on her lips in a way that had him thinking about things that couldn't - or, at least, shouldn't - happen in the school parking lot. She waited until they were halfway home to speak. "The big personality thing. Isn't that what Tex said when Frankie glued all those dinosaurs on top of the drone right before Captain Slattery came by for a demonstration?"

_That day had sucked_. There was no good way to explain to your boss that your kid had ruined a rather expensive piece of military equipment. Fortunately, Mike, like most of the crew, had a soft spot for Frankie. "Maybe."

"You going to tell him what Mrs. Adamson said?"

The reply was instant. "Hell no. The man has a big enough head already. Last thing I want to do is encourage him."

Kara's head turned towards the window. "And you wonder where Frankie gets it from."

Pulling into the driveway before the dark house, Danny quickly figured out how much time they had before Debbie returned with the kids. Calculation complete, Danny decided, for the sake of marital unity, to pretend that he hadn't heard anything.

He made it to the other side of the SUV just as Kara was exiting. She looked up at him. "Mom said she would feed the kids so what do you want for..."

Not waiting for Kara to finish, Danny pinned her against the side of the vehicle, leaning in to stop her words with his lips. Several minutes later, once he was sure that Kara was no longer thinking about dinner, he raised his head, grabbing her hand and tugging her towards the porch. "I have a better idea."

Behind him Kara laughed. "Fine. But lock the door. We're cutting it close and I don't want my mom walking in on us again."

Kicking the door closed and snapping the lock, Danny followed his wife up the stairs.

After all, Mrs. Adamson might deem impulsiveness as a less-than-desirable trait, but it could also mean a hell of a lot of fun.


	10. Timetables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N - this is an AU story where the Red Flu never happened and the Nathan James returned to Norfolk as expected after the cruise to the Arctic.

 

_Beep, beep, beep, beep..._

With a sigh, Kara wedged an arm between herself and Danny, reluctantly freeing her lips enough to roll over and retriever her cell phone, which was providing a very loud reminder that their weekend together was over, from the nightstand. "Danny, I have to get ready."

"Just a few more minutes," he begged. "The sun's not even up."

The adorable pout that clouded his face made her giggle. "This is the only train that will make it to Norfolk early enough for me to make it to work. If I miss it, Captain Chandler is going to have both of our heads."

Captain Chandler's casual acceptance of Danny and Kara's relationship, one that came to light almost immediately after the Nathan James returned from the Arctic, leaving little doubt as to whether the frat rules were broken, had been a pleasant surprise. But neither Danny nor Kara wanted to push their luck. Rolling backwards on his king-size bed, one adorned with a surprisingly comfortable duvet, Danny picked up his own phone to check the time. "We don't have to leave for another forty-five minutes. Plenty of time."

Kara gazed at him skeptically. "It's a solid 20 minutes to the train station and then..."

Danny cut her off with a kiss. "Fifteen more minutes. I promise that I'll get you there. Trust me."

And then he smiled  _that_  smile. The one that always turned her into a puddle of goo. With a sigh, Kara wrapped her arms around his neck, pausing only long enough to whisper. "You better not be wrong about this."

An hour later, Kara was ready to strangle her fiancé. Fifteen minutes had turned into twenty, and then to thirty when Kara couldn't find her bobby-pins, followed by another delay when Danny realized that the jeep was on empty and he needed gas. But even with that, they  _should_  have made it to the train station with time to spare. Time to spare, that was, until they reached the railroad crossing only to find the rails down as boxcar after boxcar lumbered by, despite Danny's insistence that freight trains  _never_ ran on the passenger tracks.

Never, apparently, except today.

As they sat on the wrong side of the tracks watching the minutes tick by, no means of getting to the station only yards away, Kara felt her stomach turning to ice. The next train was a local, taking ninety extra minutes to reach Norfolk, at which point she would be beyond late. And to call in sick on a Monday when everyone knew that she spent the weekend in Virginia Beach visiting Danny would go over about as well as an announcement that she had dyed her hair purple.

"I told you that we would make it, and we will," Danny said softly, reaching out to cover the hands that Kara held clenched in her lap. "Worst case, I'll drive you back to Norfolk myself."

"Then you'll be late," Kara pointed out.

"Frankie will cover for me." Danny shrugged before adding, under his breath, "It wouldn't be the first time."

Kara shook her head in mock disapproval. Danny did like to push his luck - as this morning illustrated.

As the railroad crossing sign finally lifted, Danny hit the gas. "Six minutes to go. We got this."

He spun the Jeep into to the parking lot, screeching to a halt in the first available spot. Grabbing her duffel from the backseat, Danny tossed it over his shoulder and headed towards the ticket machines, Kara scrambling to keep up. Reaching the machines, any hope Kara had of making the train was dashed. Of the three machines, one was out of order, one was being used by a woman who was paying for her fare with nickles, and the third had a line of at least ten people.

"Bushay!" Danny shouted. A wiry young man with short cropped hair dressed in civvies turned from his position at the ticket machine.

The man, along with the next four people in line, straightened. "Commander Green, sir!"

"What train are you getting on, Bushay?" Danny demanded.

"The 7:25 to New York, sir. Bachelor party for Willis."

Kara assumed that Willis was one of the young men in line. Apparently having no problem taking advantage of his position, Danny bypassed the entire line. "Lieutenant Foster needs to be on the seven o'clock to Norfolk. Here's my card. Get her ticket, would you?"

Bushay glanced at the station clock, eyes widening as he saw the time switch to 6:58. "Yes, of course, sir."

"Which platform?" Danny asked as he snagged the ticket from the young man.

"Platform three, sir. You better hurry." Bushay glanced at Kara. "Do you need me to carry your bags, ma'am?"

"I've got it, sailor," Danny replied, grabbing Kara by the hand and jogging towards the platform in question. Kara sucked in a deep breath as she realized that not only was the train there, but most people had already boarded. "We're not going to make it!"

Danny stopped abruptly, pulling Kara to a surprised half. "I promised you that I would get you there and I will."

Without another word, Danny picked her up, firefighter style and began running.

"Are you crazy?" Kara shrieked.

"My legs are longer," Danny replied, breathing heavily. She couldn't dispute that, he was making double the progress that she would have made on her own, but she was also being lugged down a train platform like a sack of potatoes! Torn between laughter and fury, Kara finally decided on the former. After all, there were now about two dozen young sailors and Marines watching and Danny was the one who would have to face them all in the cafeteria at lunch.

Sliding to a stop before the train, Danny carefully lifted Kara from his shoulder and set her on the second stair. Tossing her bag down behind her, he leaned in, giving her a lingering kiss. Stepping back, he smirked. "Fifteen seconds to spare."

 


	11. Parenthood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N - so, this really isn't even a story, just drabble. But it made me laugh so I decided to share it. This chapter gets an M rating for language.

 

"Take away, take away some numbers..."

Danny ran his finger across the rows of ammunition that he was inventorying. With the Nathan James in dry-dock for much needed repairs, Captain Slattery was using the opportunity to make sure that everything was ship-shape before he turned the ship over to the new captain, whoever that might be. And while Danny wasn't a huge fan of spending days upon days doing inventory, he was fully enjoying the time at home with his family.

"If you take zero from a number, the number stays the same..."

"Ah-hem."

Danny's head shot up at Wolf's rather strangled cough, only to find his entire team staring at him. Sasha and Azima's amusement and Erik's studious refusal to meet his eyes, in combination with Wolf and Carlton's blatant glee, told Danny that he was about to be the butt of a joke.

"What?" he asked cautiously, fighting the urge to check his fly.

_"If you take zero from a number, the number stays the same?_ " Wolf's falsetto was enough to have Carlton in stitches, laughing so hard that he was practically doubled over. "We understand that inventory can be difficult for those who struggle with math, Green, but probably better if you count silently."

This time even Erik cracked a smile.

"Fuck," Danny groaned. When nobody returned to what they were doing, apparently expecting more of an explanation, Danny offered. "With so few kids, there's no class for Frankie so we're homeschooling him. Well, Debbie's doing most of it but she wants us to spend thirty minutes a day doing what she calls  _educational fun._  Math songs count."

By the time Danny was done speaking, Wolf was laughing so hard that he could barely choke out his next words. "I knew your wife outranked you, but I didn't realize that your mother-in-law did as well."

Unfortunately for Wolf, Azima took exception to the comment, her face moving from amusement to fury in a nano-second. She stabbed a finger into Wolf's side. "And what exactly is wrong with respecting one's mother-in-law?"

"Nothing, of course, you should always respect your in-laws. Do what they say. I always listen to your mother." The speed at which Wolf changed his tune had Carlton in hysterics again.

Turning her back on her boyfriend, a situation that Captain Slattery ignored for the practical reason that both Wolf and Azima were good at what they did and the official reason that neither was actually U.S. Navy so the frat rules didn't apply, Azima winked at Danny. With a grin, he returned to his original task. Making sure, this time, that his humming was limited to classic country songs.

Which just happened to be Wolf's least favorite type of music.

x

x

_The song is from Rock 'N Learn. And it is INCREDIBLY catchy. Like wake up in the middle of the night humming it catchy..._


	12. A Plentiful Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I'm moving a few additional items over from FF so apologies for the out-of-season story.

Danny managed to grab Frankie just before he toppled over the display of brightly colored ponies.

"Mine!" Frankie screamed, grabbing at the pink, purple, and yellow horses.

Sighing, Danny managed to grab the toddler's hands once again, saving himself from spending ten minutes restacking the toys. "Frankie, what's the rule?"

Frankie's face crumbled. "Toy at end, if Frankie is good."

Danny smiled encouragingly, hoping that bribery would work where threats to behave hadn't. "That's right. Once we're done shopping, you get a present. But only if you are good."

Throwing the toddler onto his shoulders, Danny made his way back to the front of the PX where Mike Slattery stood with his girls, twelve-year-old Shaylyn and fifteen-year-old Whitney, who was holding Kaito, the family having made it all of ten feet into the store before they were distracted by some display or other. Wolf Taylor and Carlton Burk, who had come along to help wrangle the kids but so far had done nothing helpful, were laughing at Frankie's antics. Thankfully Eric Miller seemed to be taking his responsibilities more seriously, one hand on each of Javier Cruz's nephews. Ray Diaz had disappeared, no doubt tracking down his horde, who scattered the moment they entered the store.

Shaking his head, Danny directed his question at Mike. "What's the point of doing this again?"

"To let Frankie pick out a gift for Kara," Whitney explained before making a beeline for a small makeup display.

"I already picked something out for her," Danny groused.

"Pretty sure she's going to know that Frankie didn't choose the Glock 45," Burk said with a snort.

"Or, if she does, you are going to be in deep shi...doo-doo for letting the kid near a firearm," Wolf added.

"She asked for it!" Danny replied defensively, before adding. "Besides, that's not all I got her."

Chocolate might be the most stereotypical gift ever but, given the food crisis, it was also almost impossible to find. While rust resistant crops were now being harvested, easing the food shortages, cocoa beans were not high on the government's priority list.

"Way TMI!" Wolf laughed as Burk pretended to stuff his fingers in his ears.

"You two need to grow up," Danny retorted, before adding pointedly. "Aren't you supposed to be helping Manny and Raul?"

Taking the cue, Erik looked down at the boys. "What do you think your mother would like for Christmas?"

"I think Mama would like a new sweater," Manny, Cruz's eight-year-old nephew pipped up.

"Or a necklace. Uncle Javi always bought Mama jewelry," Raul added quietly.

Kicking his brother in a manner that he must have thought was discrete, Manny hissed, "Jewelry is expensive, stupid. We only have thirteen dollars."

Carlton straightened, giving Manny his best no-nonsense look. "No name calling."

It worked as well on the child as it did on unruly sailors, resulting in an immediate downcast face. "Yes, sir."

Allowing his face to relax, Carlton leaned closer. "I'll teach you guys a trick. Bet if we're  _really_  nice to the lady behind the jewelry counter, she'll give us a discount."

"Really?" Raul breathed.

"Cross my heart," Carlton replied, doing so as he spoke. "Come on, I'll show you."

Wolf winked at Mike and Danny before turning to follow the now wide-eyed boys towards the jewelry counter. Even with Javi's death benefits, they all knew that money was tight for Maria. The least that they could do was chip in to help the boys get her a nice Christmas present.

Danny trailed after Mike, Whitney, and Shaylyn as they made their way through the store. After twenty minutes spent making sure that Frankie didn't get hold of any sharp objects or accidentally take out a rack of snow globes, Danny was ready to call it, baffled at how Mike managed to keep Kaito contained. "Guess I know why Kara hates taking Frankie grocery shopping. This might have been a bad idea. It's not like Frankie is actually going to pick out anything that Kara wants."

"Mom always loves what we pick out," Shaylyn said sincerely, before correcting herself. "Well, except the time we got her a vacuum. She  _said_  that she liked it but she didn't. I know because after that Dad didn't let us buy anything from the cleaning department."

Danny didn't try to hide his laughter. "Pretty sure Kara's not going to want a My Little Pony or Transformer any more than Christine wanted a vacuum."

"You might be surprised by what Frankie picks out," Mike replied. At Danny's disbelieving look, he added, "Here, hand him over."

Despite his reluctance to set Frankie down while they were surrounded by glass, Danny did as directed, making sure that Mike had a hand on the child before he let go. Leaning down to look Frankie in the eyes, Mike smiled. "Hey Frankie, we're going to buy Mommy a present for Christmas."

At the mention of the holiday, Frankie perked up. "Santa coming!"

"That's right," Mike continued brightly. "And on Christmas we buy presents for Mommy. What would be a good present for Mommy?"

"Mommy present?" Frankie simply looked confused. Shaking his head, Danny was about to tell Mike to let it go, when Frankie's face suddenly brightened. "Mommy want baby girl!"

Raising one eyebrow, Mike looked up at Danny before asking, just as Carlton, Wolf, Eric, Manny, and Raul rounded the corner of the aisle, "Did you knock up my best TAO  _again_ , Green?"

Danny suspected that his face was bright red under the scruff that he hadn't bothered shaving since he was officially still on medical leave. "We just found out. Kara planned to tell you after the holidays."

Thankfully Mike didn't seem upset. "Congratulations! Three years apart? That's a good age range. The girls are three years apart." A shadow passed over Mike's face, the one that always appeared when he was thinking about Lucas.

"Now we know what Green was doing while he was supposed to be  _recovering_ ," Carlton noted, interjecting some much needed levity into the conversation.

"Working on Operation Repopulation," Wolf joked.

Letting that one go - if anything, the six month recovery period delayed their plans to add to their family, although the timing ended up working out well given f the food crisis - Danny smirked at Wolf. "Anyone want to bet that Wolf and Azima are next?"

"I'll take that."

Everyone, including Mike, turned to Whitney in surprise. Frankly, Danny had almost forgotten that the girl was there. She held out her hand. Taking it, Danny shook. "We have a deal."

She grinned devilishly. "Good, now you owe me $20."

"What? Who..." Danny's voice trailed off, noting the stunned looks on Carlton, Wolf, and Erik's faces. None of them, then, and Kara would know within minutes if Kat was pregnant. Which only left...

Mike grinned diabolically. ""Just think, Green, our kids might get married someday. That would mean we're related."

Whistling, he sauntered after his daughters, leaving four stunned men behind. Finally Carlton turned to Danny.

"You, my man, are totally screwed."

 


	13. White Wedding Day

_December 25, 2015_

_x_

Kara woke up slightly disoriented, feeling like she was late for something. Glancing around the room, she realized why. Sunlight was seeping through the windows, Danny was next to her snoring,  _and the baby monitor was silent._

Marveling at the fact that her ten-month-old son picked Christmas, of all days, to sleep through the night for the first time  _ever_ , Kara turned towards Danny, wrapping her arm around his waist and resting her head on his chest, listening to the steady thud of his heart.

"Happy anniversary." The words were mumbled into her hair.

Smiling, Kara shifted until her chin was resting on Danny's chest and she could gaze into his still-sleepy eyes. "Happy anniversary."

One hand rose to trace her lips. "Thank you."

"For what?" Kara whispered, her own hand rising to stroke his cheek, feeling the muscles move as he grinned at her.

"For agreeing to marry me, of course. It really would have sucked if you said no in front of all of those people."

_x_

_December 24, 2014 – 1 year, 1 days ago_

"That just leaves California," Captain Chandler said, pulling out the final set of maps.

They had been there since 0830, plotting out the paths for the teams to take to maximize distribution of the contagious cure but, unlike the days leading up to their arrival in St. Louis, the lack of enthusiasm in the room was palpable. Commander Slattery had attempted to chalk it up to lack of sleep – Rachel's shooting and the subsequent search for her killer kept them up well into the night – but Kara knew that it was something far more debilitating. The loss of any life was devastating, but the ramifications of Rachel's death were far-reaching. Unlike with Frankie or Ravit or Barker or Chung, there were no other paleomicrobiologists to step in and take Rachel's place. Which is why her demise brought not just pain, but also fear – fear that if their plans went awry and the contagious cure failed, that the dying would begin again, and this time there would be no Doctor Rachel Scott to stop it.

That fear was why they were all here, studying maps and figuring out teams, rather than taking the time to mourn that they all so badly needed. Because there was simply no margin for error.

The first two paths were set. Commander Slattery, Carlton, and Rick were headed to Chicago. Not only because, according to a few of the survivors trickling into St. Louis, the military had established an effective quarantine that actually stuck in the Windy City, but also in the hopes of finding their families. Once they were finished there, Carlton would break west, moving along the Canadian border while the XO and Rick would move east towards New York. Master Chief Jeter, Tex, and Cruz were headed south and then east to cover the Gulf coast, planning to swing north once they reached the Atlantic and eventually meet up with the XO. The last path was south and west to California, and given that Captain Chandler was needed here in St. Louis to coordinate the effort both domenstic and overseas and Andrea was in charge of the repairs on the Nathan James, Kara had a pretty good guess who would be leading the final team.

Sure enough, Captain Chandler turned towards Danny. "Green, you and Wolf will lead the team to the Pacific. You'll take the southern route through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, then push north through California to Oregon and Washington until you meet up with Burk. We haven't made contact with anyone on the West Coast yet, but until we know for certain otherwise, we will operate under the assumption that there are survivors."

"Understood, sir," Danny replied.

Kara fiddled with her pencil as Danny and Captain Chandler continued to discuss details of the route and mission. She had known that Danny would be leaving, of course, but actually getting the orders was harder than she expected. In roughly thirty-six hours Danny would be gone, the two truly separated for the first time since the Nathan James left Norfolk all those months ago. Apparently sensing Kara's inner turmoil, Alisha squeezed Kara's hand under the table, and Kara gave her a reassuring smile. Danny might be leaving, but Alisha and Andrea would also be staying in St. Louis. She wouldn't truly be  _alone_. Not until the Nathan James shipped out again, anyway.

The details for the ground teams finalized, Captain Chandler turned to the next topic on the agenda. "Any update on the request for civilian volunteers?"

With the crew no longer contagious, the next stage of the mission depended on volunteers to join the effort to spread the cure – and not just people from St. Louis either. It would take far longer than five to eight days to move the distances that were being discussed, which meant that additional people would need to join the convoys as they moved. Unfortunately the only other option, waiting until they were in a position to manufacture enough of the contagious cure vaccination to distribute to key areas, would take months - time they didn't have.

"More than three hundred people have signed up as of this morning, sir," Master Chief Jeter responded. "Doc Rios and Bertrise are screening the volunteers since Doctor Milowsky stepped in for Doctor Scott on the flight to Nebraska. Obviously preference is to those with a medical background, as well as to those who were exposed to the cure more recently, people physically capable of walking long distances as necessary, and those with family in the affected areas."

Slattery whistled. "That's double what we need."

"People are appreciative, sir. They want to be part of the efforts to save our country," Jeter replied, drawing a round of nods.

"This seems like as good a time as any to break for lunch. We'll continue at 0130," Chandler said after a moment, breaking the silence. Immediately chairs were pushed back as the group broke. Kara waved Alisha along as she waited for Danny.

"The cafeteria?" He murmured as he drew close.

Kara gave him a puzzled look. "Is there another option?"

"Well, we could go back to our room…" The rest of his suggestion was left unsaid. After months of having to sneak even a minute of private time, they were both taking advantage of this time at the hotel – time which was now limited.

Kara's growling stomach settled the question. "If we eat quickly we might still be able to fit in a nap."

Danny grinned. "Let's go."

Less than five minutes later they were seated before heaping plates. With the James out of fuel and mostly non-operational, Bacon and his team had taken over the hotel kitchen, turning out even more mouthwatering meals than usual courtesy of the additional space and equipment.

"Frankie was from California, wasn't he?" Kara asked, biting into a delectable piece of barbeque chicken.

Danny nodded, glancing around the room surreptitiously before giving up on the fork and picking the wing up with his fingers. "Los Angeles."

"I hope you find his family," Kara responded quietly, knowing without having to ask that Danny would be making a detour to look for his best friend's parents She glanced down at her still minimal bump. "Six weeks. By the time you get back I'll be huge."

Danny fiddled with his food for a minute. "I was hoping we would stay in St. Louis for a few days. Long enough to plan the wedding."

Kara blinked, still unaccustomed to both the ring that now adorned her left hand and the idea of being engaged. She gave her fiance a teasing smile. "Unlike someone I can think of, who needed to wait for the  _right moment_ , I'm ready to get married today."

This time Danny actually set down his food. "What about your mom?"

Realizing that he was serious, Kara stopped chewing. "It's important to you, isn't it? That we get married before you leave?"

"I think it means something to a kid to know that his parents are married," Danny said after a moment, obviously struggling to find the words. "I know the mission is only supposed to take six weeks but we've both heard that before. I could be gone for six months. And if anything happens…"

Kara cut him off. " _Nothing_  is going to happen."

But they both knew how hollow those words were. Rachel had been killed walking to her room in this very hotel. "If we're married you'll have access to my pay and bank accounts, once that stuff is figured out, and you would be entitled to my benefits."

Kara thought about what her mother would say if she arrived in St. Louis to find her daughter married, and realized that Danny's desire to make sure that Kara and the baby were as secure as possible before he left was one thing that Debbie – a woman who married a man she knew less than a month and raised a daughter alone – would absolutely understand.

"Tonight's the funeral. How about tomorrow?"

_x_

_Present_

Kara brushed her lips across Danny's. "My pleasure, Lieutenant Green."

"Where's Frankie?" Danny asked after a moment, his thoughts apparently mirrored Kara's own.

"He slept through the night," Kara whispered, scared to say the words too loudly and jinx themselves. Although Frankie was an easy-going baby overall, his sleeping habits left something to be desired, the child often waking up every couple of hours, sobbing until one of his parents rescued him from the crib he seemed to detest.

Danny's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Mmm-hmmm," Kara responded, her hands sliding from his chest to his face. "I figure that we should take advantage of it."

"Absolute…"

The word wasn't even out of Danny's mouth before Frankie's voice broke the blessed silence. "Ma-ma? Ma-ma! MA-MA!"

"So much for that idea." With a laugh, Kara rolled out of bed and began tossing on some clothes. Walking by Danny, who was in the process of pulling his shirt over his head. Kara leaned up to give him another lingering kiss, her fingers skimming over his scruff, enjoying the way his eyes focused on her lips, leaving little doubt about what he was thinking. "Who knows, maybe he'll take a long nap."

Padding into Frankie's room, Kara lifted the child out of his crib, giving him a tight squeeze before moving to the corner to change his sopping diaper, then dressing him warmly in the little green and white stripped outfit with  _My First Christmas_ embroidered across the chest and matching cap that Andrea had given Frankie. Settling into the rocking chair to nurse the apparently starving child, Kara ran her fingers over his smooth cheek.

"Merry Christmas, my beautiful boy."

_x_

_December 25, 2014 – 1 year ago_

Kara stared out at the beautiful, unseasonably warm, day, one hand resting on her stomach where she could feel the baby tumbling over and over, the caffeine from her one cup of regular coffee apparently energizing him. A cold snap had rolled in yesterday, a sign that the locals insisted meant that snow was on its way and even knowing that snow would make it harder for the teams to move out, Kara had secretly rejoiced in the thought that she would have a white wedding, seeing it as a nod to the early days of her relationship with Danny, back in the Arctic.

_But like so many other things in her life, it simply wasn't meant to be._

"Kara? Are you okay?" Alisha's voice broke through Kara's thoughts, the concern on her friend's face indicating that this wasn't the first time Alisha had called her name. The other woman's brow furrowed. "You don't have to get married today, you know. Danny will understand if you want to wait until your mother gets here or you want the time to plan a real wedding. Everyone will."

"It's not that." Kara said, turning away from the window. Not that she was happy about Debbie's absence, but the circumstances were what they were, and Danny's family would not be in attendance either. At least she had the benefit of knowing that her mother was alive and would be arriving in St. Louis in the next few weeks. "It just feels wrong, somehow. Everyone has lost so much. How can we ask people to celebrate with us when they're in mourning?"

The list of names rolled through Kara's head - Frankie, Steve, Jason, Rachel, Ravit, Andy, Barker, Lynn - and that didn't even count all the friends and family who were dead or missing.

Alisha was silent for a long minute. "Do you want to marry Danny?"

"Yes, of course." That was one thing Kara knew without a doubt.

"Then get married. This is about what  _you_  want, Kara. You and Danny. The last thing you want to do is look back and regret not getting married because you were worried about other people. Sure the timing is sucky, but it's not like tomorrow or next week or next month are going to be any better. And if you want to get married, we'll all be there to cheer you on and turn this wedding into the biggest bash St. Louis has ever seen."

Kara felt tears gather. "When did you get so smart?"

"I've always been smart. You're just finally listening," Alisha replied smartly. "Now, come on, it's time to stuff you into this uniform."

_x_

_Present_

Picking her way around the mounds of gifts piled in the living room, Kara made her way to the kitchen where Danny already had the coffee brewing.

"Don't let him mess up his outfit," she warned as she passed Frankie off to Danny and began pouring herself a cup.

"That hat looks like something those weird elf things from Harry Potter would wear," Danny said dubiously, although he did tie a large bib around Frankie's neck before attempting to feed him his yogurt. "Where did you find the Christmas outfit?"

"It's from Andrea," Kara explained, knowing that Danny would understand how important that made the outfit. "She bought it months ago at one of those vendor booths. And it looks like she wasn't the only one who added Frankie to their shopping list. Where did all of those gifts come from?"

Danny glanced towards the living room. "Oh, McMahon dropped off another bag last night after you went to sleep. I invited her to join us tonight, by the way, since she didn't have plans."

Not that Kara minded – she liked Tom and Mike's assistant – but there was the issue of space, or lack thereof. "How many does that make? Thirty-two?

"We'll set up a kids table in the study. Kat can be in charge." Danny stood, beckoning her. "Come here for a minute."

"What?" Kara asked suspiciously as she rose, allowing Danny to pull her towards the sink, which boasted a large window. She gasped. "It snowed!"

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Danny rested his chin on the top of her head. "Looks like you got your wish. It's a White Christmas."

_x_

_December 25, 2014 – 1 year ago_

"Kara!"

Kara turned, but the remainder of the Commander's words were impossible to hear over the chants of  _drink, drink, drink_  coming from the corner of the room. The small and rather sedate wedding reception that Kara envisioned had quickly developed into something more appropriate for a frat house thanks, in large part, to Alisha and Carlton, who insisted that no wedding was complete without toasts.

Lots and lots of toasts - many of which never referenced either the bride or groom, but all of which required people to drink.

Kara found herself smiling as she looked around. Across the room Carlton and Wolf were feeding Rick a shot, and Teylor appeared to be standing on his head. Closer at hand, Mason and Nishioka were attempting to teach Bertrise the Macarena while Val took advantage of Kara's distraction to drag Alisha out to the dance floor to join the conga line. Kara was slightly surprised that Captain Chandler and Commander Slattery were ignoring the crew's antics in favor of sitting in the corner of the room drinking scotch, but she supposed the real punishment would come at 0530 the next morning when the first team left for Chicago – drunk, sober or hungover. It might not be the wedding she would have planned, but it was perfect all the same.

Seeing Andrea wave again, Kara wove her way through the thinning crowd - at least some of the crew was smart enough to realize that morning was quickly approaching. "Is President Michener threatening to have us all arrested?"

That drew a chuckle. "Not quite yet. I do have something to show you, though."

As they moved towards the door to the patio, Kara noticed that Tex and Danny were headed in the same direction. "What…."

Andrea threw the door open. "Take a look."

Kara sucked in a breath, attention caught by the winter wonderland before her, a soft dusting of snow lying on the ground and trees, while snowflakes danced in the air. She felt Danny's arm slide around her waist and she leaned into his side. "It's snowing."

"You may not have gotten a white wedding," Andrea said softly. "But at least you have a white Christmas."

Blinking away tears, Kara reached out to clasp the older woman's hand. "Thank you."

"You two go on now. Enjoy the snow. And if you decide to come back inside a different way, like the emergency exit that leads directly to the stairwell, hint, hint, we won't tell a soul," Tex teased, earning himself a wack in the arm from Andrea, before the two retreated into the ballroom, leaving Danny and Kara alone.

Kara snuggled into Danny's chest, enjoying the relative quiet. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The perfect way to end to the day."

Danny pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry your mom wasn't here."

Kara tilted her head until she could see Danny's face. "I missed my mother, and you missed your parents and siblings. But the rest of our family was here with us. That's more than I hoped for."

Both fell silent for a moment, and then Danny stepped towards the snow, holding a hand out towards Kara. "So, Mrs. Green, are you up for a stroll?"

"Absolutely, Mr. Green," Kara replied, mimicking his flirtatious tone. "Then maybe we can find that entrance Tex mentioned."

Danny grinned. "You do know how to warm a guy up when he's been out in the snow."

_x_

_Present_

"The snow is just the icing on the cake," Kara replied, feeling herself tearing up as she gazed first at the familiar contours of Danny's face, before moving on to her little boy, then the dog who was currently licking pear splatter off the floor, and finally to to the stacks of presents that spilled out from under the tree. "The best part of today is that we get to spend today with our family."


	14. Hold My Hand

Danny Green sat staring blindly at the three body bags laid out on the floor of the helicopter bay, ready to be moved to the makeshift morgue where Kudelski's body waited, twisting the dog tags in his hand.

Four men. He had lost four men in the last twenty-four hours.

_Eddie Kudelski_

_Henry Wallace_

_Jonathan Butler_

_Teylor Cruz_

Danny was ashamed to admit that he barely knew Kudelski, Wallace, and Butler. All three had been marines prior to the outbreak and had volunteered to join the team in St. Louis. Upon their arrival on the James, Danny had assigned the bulk of their training to Wolf and Teylor, as he had taken on a large chunk of the day-to-day activities of running the ship, freeing Captain Slattery and Commander Garnett to focus on the logistics of cure distribution. Danny had also skipped the majority of the card games that Tex arranged to establish unity and camaraderie among the team, knowing that his presence had almost as much of a dampening effect as Commander Slattery's presence used to have back in the Arctic on the rare occasion that he crashed their poker games. Danny had grudgingly accepted that he had been downgraded from fun team leader to old married guy, even laughing about it with Cruz (who was only a year younger) and Wolf (who was actually three years older). But now it haunted him, realizing how little he knew about the men who had served under him – who had died under his command.

A year ago Danny had never lost a member of his team. It was a fact that he had been proud of, one that he used to think was the result of careful training and planning and execution. Now he knew better. Now he knew that it was all luck, or fate, or some combination of the two that determine who was going home in a bag.

_Frankie Benz_

_Steven Berchem_

_Jason Smith_

_Sean Cossetti_

_Max Walker_

_Ravit Bivas_

_Jacob Kudelski_

_Henry Wallace_

_Jonathan Butler_

_Teylor Cruz_

Over the course of a year ten members of his team had died – a statistic so terrible as to be laughable – and yet it never got easier. Teylor's death hurt just as much as Frankie's did. Maybe even more. It just felt so blasted unfair that yesterday they had been cheering over Wolf and Teylor's miraculous survival, and today Cruz was on his way to the morgue.

Like God or Fate or Destiny was playing some cruel joke on him.

When Danny had first seen Teylor, blood seeping from his neck, the injury was so jarringly similar to the one Teylor received at Gitmo, for a minute he had sworn that he was back on the beach in Cuba. But they weren't in Cuba and they weren't on that beach – and this time there was no Doctor Scott waiting in the wings to pull Teylor back from the brink. To save him from the inevitable.

And yet it hadn't been inevitable at all, had it. Teylor should never have been on that island to begin with, not after the crack he had taken to his head barely fifteen hours before. Without Doc Rios on board, Danny and Carlton had taken turns sitting with Teylor last night, waking him every two hours to check his pupils, assuming that he had a concussion. Danny had even suggested that Teylor remain on the Nathan James with Carlton, but the man had been insistent that he was fine and Danny had caved, knowing how badly Teylor – like they all – wanted to find their people. It was a choice that Danny would now have to live with, always wishing that he had made a different one. Just another thing to add to the list of regrets.

_Not telling Benz to slow down on the stairs._

_Allowing Berchem and Smith to surface without checking for boats._

_Taking Cossetti to the Vyerni before he was ready._

_Not getting to the rig in time to save Bivas and Walker, as well as Lynn and Chung._

_Letting Kudelski take the first crack at the mine._

_Not personally training Wallace and Butler._

_Letting Cruz out of sick bay._

And yet, mixed in with his regrets and grief, was a sense of relief. Relief that one of those bodies was not his. Relief that he might see his wife again, that he might meet his son. Relief that Captain Chandler would not have to tell Kara that she had become a widow only months after becoming a bride. And there was also gratitude. Gratitude that he had lived long enough to experience the joy of loving a woman with all of his heart, the wonder of fathering a child – experiences which Teylor (like Frankie) had been denied.

How many more times could he beat the odds, Danny wondered. How many more times could he escape death before he, like Cruz, reached his final mission? How many more times would he leave this ship before he asked one of his brothers-in-arms to tell Frankie that his father had died a badass? How many more times before Captain Chandler made that call to Kara?

As his fist tightened around the dog tags, Danny ached for Kara, wishing more than anything that he could wrap her in his arms as he had at Gitmo and New Orleans, releasing his grief in a wave of tears. But even as he craved her presence, he was thankful beyond words that she was safe and sound in St. Louis.

Danny glanced up when he heard the sure footsteps of Captain Tom Chandler approach. He had seen the Captain enter the helicopter bay earlier and move from person to person, a softly spoken word here, a hand on the shoulder there, comforting everyone with his mere presence. Danny waited for Captain Chandler to reach him, to do or say something to make the loss of four men – including one who had been with them from the beginning – tolerable. But when their eyes met, instead of the resolve that Danny had been expecting, the Captain's eyes revealed his own grief and anguish over the loss of so many lives. A moment passed, then two, until Danny nodded, letting the Captain know that he understood.

Sometimes even the strongest of men needed a moment to grieve.

A flicker of solidarity, of appreciation, passed over Captain Chandler's face before he turned back to the make-shift hospital that Doc Rio had set up on the other side of the helicopter bay, leaving Danny to his thoughts.

Minutes – or hours – later footsteps once again sounded next to Danny. They were softer, lighter than those of the Captain, and Danny knew without looking who it was.

Alisha Granderson.

She settled next to him on the crate, taking one of his hands in hers, no words necessary as they clung to each other.

Silently mourning the loss of their friend.


	15. Late One Night

Kara jolted awake to the sound of toenails clipping along the wooden floor, followed by a sharp bark. She groaned.

"Not again."

Throwing off the covers, Kara tied her robe tightly around her waist, just above her bump, to provide some protection against the frigid February temperature. Halsey was an excellent guard dog – in the city where the noises were familiar. Here in the country, he seemed to think every squirrel climbing up a tree and every bunny bouncing across the yard was an imminent threat, going berserk until she let him out to investigate and inevitably waking Frankie up in the process. After the fourth or fifth night in a row, Kara had realized it was easier to get up and let the dog out than deal with a screaming toddler.

Shuffling towards the stairs, still mostly asleep, it took Kara half a second to register the fact that the front door was open and a scruffy man – beard down to his chest – stood in the doorway. He turned slightly, the moonlight glinting off the gun strapped to the small of his back when he bent to pick something up. Freezing, Kara abruptly recalled that her service weapon was still tucked safely in her locked nightstand drawer where there was no risk of Frankie getting it. That didn't mean she was defenseless, however.

"Halsey,  _attaque_!"

The dog didn't hesitate and within seconds the intruder was flat on his back and Kara was in her bedroom retrieving her pistol, only to be met with the sound of a  _very_  familiar voice.

"Jesus, Kara! Call him off!"

Dashing down the stairs, Kara took in the sight before her. Halsey had the apparent intruder pinned down, covering most of his face and torso, but those arms and legs looked incredibly familiar.

_"Danny?"_

There was no mistaking his voice, and yet this man looked (and smelled, as she got closer) more like the guy who lived in the trash receptacle near her office than her husband. Approaching cautiously, Kara switched on the small lamp near the front door, flooding the space with light and confirming that the man on the floor was in fact Danny. Well, a dirty, hairy, smelly version of him anyway. Her lips twitched as she took in his obvious annoyance.

"Believe it or not, this was not the homecoming I was expecting," Danny muttered, as Halsey whined at Kara, clearly agitated over the fact that he was pinning down a familiar (well, a somewhat familiar) face.

"Halsey,  _halte_." Stepping off Danny, the dog immediately began licking him profusely, apparently his version of an apology. Kara crossed her arms over her chest, happiness warring with irritation. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you, sneaking into the house like that. What were you thinking?"

"Since when is walking through the front door sneaking in?" Danny griped, frowning at the dog, who returned to Kara, leaning against her leg. Danny sighed, wiping dog spit from his cheek. "I thought I could surprise you and Frankie when you woke up. I didn't count on Halsey turning on me. I guess that answers the question of who Halsey thinks his handler is now."

As Danny pushed to a sitting position, Kara couldn't help but laugh. His face had more fur that Halsey. She reached out a hand to help him up. "Did Slattery kick you off the ship for violating Navy grooming standards?"

"It's a long story," Danny began, only to be interrupted by a keening wail from Frankie's room.

Kara grimaced, unsurprised that the racket had woken the child. "I'll get him."

Hurrying up the stairs, she picked the twenty-two month old out of his crib, cradling him on her shoulder, softly humming a mindless tune. A muffled footstep sounded behind her and Kara turned, realizing that Danny had followed her up the stairs. Tears glimmered in his eyes – as they always did when he saw his son again after a deployment – and Kara's irritation over his impromptu arrival disappeared, her heart melting at his tender expression. Smiling, feeling the prick of tears in her own eyes, Kara jiggled the toddler. "Frankie, Daddy's home."

Unfortunately, Frankie's reaction was not the one that either Danny or Kara expected. One look at the man standing in the doorway and the decimal level of Frankie's cries increased exponentially. "No, no, no bear. Scary bear!"

Exhausted and half-deaf from the ear-piercing shrieks, Kara shifted the toddler so Danny's frame was hidden, disregarding the shock and hurt on her husband's face for the moment. "He's just tired and confused, Danny. Let me get him calmed down and then you can see him." She hesitated before adding. "We should have some hot water if you want to take a shower while you wait. You do kind of stink."

That got her a bit of a smile, and Danny disappeared down the hall. With a tired sigh, Kara settled in the rocking chair, knowing that it would take at least thirty minutes to calm Frankie down from this level of hysteria. Once the child was back to sleep she would find Danny and figure out what he was doing home three months into what was supposed to be a six-month deployment.

But next thing she knew, Kara found herself waking up to a sunlit room, the smell of coffee wafting towards her and a major crick in her neck – most likely from spending the night in a rocking chair holding a toddler. Opening her eyes, she was treated to the sight of her husband wearing a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt, the grizzly bear beard gone, once again looking like the man she had married and smelling like soap rather than a dumpster.

"Morning." Danny smiled that lazy smile, the one she could never resist, and Kara's heart rate doubled as it sank in that last night wasn't a dream.  _He was really here_. Glancing down, Kara noticed that Frankie was still asleep. If she could transfer him into his crib without waking him up, they might get a few minutes to...

But alone time with Danny would have to wait, because the moment that Kara moved Frankie's eyes popped wide open. His head swiveling, it took Frankie only a moment to spy the figure standing in the doorway. With a squeal of glee, Frankie threw himself off Kara's lap, running towards his father.

"Daddy!"


End file.
